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Vitreous floaters may negatively affect health-related quality of life
Am J Ophthalmol. 2011;152(1):60-65.
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Symptomatic degenerative vitreous floaters may have a negative effect on patients’ health-related quality of life, a study found.
A questionnaire survey measuring the time trade-off and standard gamble for death and blindness of removing floaters incorporated data from 266 patients at a single center in Singapore. Mean age was 52.9 years. Mean utility values were 0.89 for time trade-off, 0.89 for standard gamble (death) and 0.93 for standard gamble (blindness). The values did not differ significantly across age, gender or socioeconomic variables.
Young symptomatic patients were more likely to risk blindness to rid themselves of floaters; patients aged 55 years or younger showed lower standard gamble (blindness) values when compared with patients older than 55 years (P = .007).
“Our finding suggests that younger patients, who belong to the economically active group, are more keen and less risk-averse to improve their health-related quality of life by opting for a therapeutic intervention to remove their floaters,” the study authors said.
Surgical treatment options include Nd:YAG laser vitreolysis, deep anterior vitrectomy combined with cataract surgery and pars plana vitrectomy, but these are rarely offered to patients with symptomatic floaters, according to the study.
Because a vision-specific quality-of-life questionnaire was not used, the results may not truly reflect the impact of floaters on specific vision-related tasks, the authors acknowledged.